


Mayfly Sentiment

by Momma_Loki



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor - All Media Types
Genre: And feels, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, Thorki - Freeform, but it'll all work out in the end, domestic AU, there will be angst, will add other characters as they appear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-17
Updated: 2013-04-27
Packaged: 2017-12-08 17:43:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/764179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Momma_Loki/pseuds/Momma_Loki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki didn't know how long they had been living on Midgard.  He lost count, somewhere along the way.  All he really remembers is Thor slinking along after him for months—doe eyed and pleading—all but begging Loki to live with him on Midgard.</p><p>“Why, oh why,”  Loki spat venomously, whirling around to glare daggers up at the elder god,  “do you find it so <i>appealing</i> to squander in the dirt with those mayfly creatures??”</p><p>But Thor only allowed his gaze to lazily drift away from Loki.  "I'm tired."</p><p>"Me too."</p><p>[A gift, for Sam (thorrior.tumblr.com), who wanted a domestic Thorki au based on the song "If You Ever Come Back" by The Scripts.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Quiet

Thor grimaced, jostled awake by the sudden sound of a plate crashing to the floor, followed by a lewd string of swears and curses.

The blonde would very much like to be agitated by being pulled from such a pleasant dream at—he grabbed the alarm clock from the bedside table--8:26 AM; but the sounds of the scene going on the kitchen caused a sleepy smile to lazily overtake his features. And with a sigh, he pushed himself up and rolled from the warm nest on the king sized bed.

“What happened?” He asked with a yawn, scratching the back of his skull as he shuffled up the hallway.

Loki snapped his head up, jade eyes scanning his surroundings quickly. A frown sullied his features even further when he caught sight of the hulking figure heading his way. “Shit, did I wake you?”

Thor chuckled, shrugging his shoulders.

“Don't walk in here barefoot, you oaf.” Loki chided. Thor rolled his eyes, but listened regardless: taking a seat at the bar, watching as his adopted sibling stayed crouched, scouring the hardwood floor for any remaining shards of porcelain.

“Would you like some help?” But Thor only received the sight of Loki's hunched back, and no answers. “Lo?”

Loki stood to his full height, rolling his shoulders and receiving a few pops of his spine in return. He emptied his hands into the trashcan, turning to Thor with a sweeping smile, “Got it. Breakfast is on the stove. I was trying to set our plates, but...”

Thor applauded mockingly, which earned him a swift slap to the back of his head as he skirted past the ebony-haired man. Thor simply laughed. Loki joined him, as he began filling the coffee pot with water—shooting Thor a glare when the blonde teasingly muttered 'don't drop that, too.'

 

Loki didn't know how long they had been living on Midgard. He lost count, somewhere along the way. All he really remembers is Thor slinking along after him for months—doe eyed and pleading—all but begging Loki to live with him on Midgard. Loki denied him for months, until the Trickster eventually snapped.

“Why, oh why,” Loki spat venomously, whirling around to glare daggers up at the elder god, “do you find it so _appealing_ to squander in the dirt with those mayfly creatures??”

But Thor only allowed his gaze to lazily drift away from Loki. “This life is monotonous. We could live a thousand lives, see a thousand things and witness the birth of a thousand cultures on Midgard. The eternal realm never changes, and I've had my fill of it. I'm tired.”

Loki saw a shadow of himself in Thor's exhausted features, then, and it caused his heart to soften a bit. He reached out and took Thor's hand in his own, a small smile playing at the corners of his lips. “Me too.”

And that was that.

 

It had only been half a decade since Loki's attack on Midgard, so The Avengers were reasonably wary when the two Asgardians suddenly showed up at Stark Tower; belongings packed in Loki's bottomless tote.

“Oh fuck no.” Was Tony's immediate response.

Loki rolled his eyes, leaning against the far living room wall while Thor comically tried to explain the situation to Tony, who practically had his fingers in his ears; screaming 'I can't hear you, la la la, you're not here with your demented little brother, this isn't happening!'

It was only when Jarvis spoke up, offering to contact Nick Fury, that Tony ran a hand down his face and finally decided to listen to whatever Thor had been trying to tell him.

Thor explained that the two resident gods had decided to spend the long-term foreseeable future on Midgard, living like humans would. Tony immediately snapped his attention to Loki, narrowing his eyes on the Trickster, “You can't live here.”

Loki knew Tony was talking to Thor, still, but making it a point to let Loki know that he was the reason for Tony's attitude. Loki rolled his eyes a second time. “We're not asking for sanctuary. We already have plans. We just need your assistance at acquiring some Midgardian clothing. I could always simply glamour us the appropriate attire, but we both agreed we want to use our powers as little as possible. Preferably not at all.”

“You guys are serious about this...” Tony said incredulously, somewhat to himself. Thor nodded. He gave Loki a suspicious look, “No tricks? No plans for world domination?”

Loki smiled, raising his hands submissively. He always like Tony—not that he would ever admit that.

“Alright,” Tony sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “I'll lend you guys some clothes, and some cash, even though I'm positive I'm going to regret this.”

 

“You gave them money?!” Steve squawked when he returned home later, after the two gods were long gone.

Tony shrugged, swirling his glass of scotch, a fond smile quirking his lips at the memory of Thor and Loki dressed in jeans and thin cotton shirts—the look of pure bliss on their faces, as if this is what they had been search for, for longer than they've been searching for each other.

“Call it a hunch.”

“I'm calling it a 'bad idea,' because that's what it was!” Steve scolded, phone already pressed to his ear, likely dialing one of the other team mates. “We have to stop them, before Loki does something. Do you have any idea where they were heading?”

“Nope.” Tony lied.

His smile slowly twisted into a smirk as he listened to Steve ask Jarvis for information, only to have Jarvis admit that he had no idea what Steve was talking about—Tony having ordered the AI to delete all evidence and knowledge of the event. He hid his expression behind the lip of his glass, taking a sip as Steve frantically explained things to whoever was on the phone.

 

And here they were, years later and living comfortably in a small London flat. Loki liked the near constant rain, and Thor liked the consistent cold. By now, they had enough money to afford a home, but they both agreed that they liked the small space.

Living in a place like Asgard your whole life makes you appreciate cramped quarters in ways you thought you never would.

Thor is a fitness trainer at the local gym and Loki gives piano lessons. They have a tawny Ocicat that they adopted two years ago from a neighbor who found the runt running frantically across the highway. Loki already had a soft spot for the thing, after their neighbor lamented that the kitten's mother and siblings had been hit, and she was the only one left alive. Thor had a soft spot for her because of how tiny she was.

They named her Kat Cat, for no real logical reason.

Their apartment has a sizable living room which bleeds into the kitchen, separated only by the bar that juts out from the wall. The window over the sink, and the sliding glass door to the patio light up the room during the day, and the plasma screen light up the room by night.

The bathroom is small, but serves its purpose. The spare bedroom was converted to Loki's 'classroom,' filled with bookshelves that cover any free space on the walls, a plush sofa and the piano that rests under the window. Loki claims he likes the view of the city, when he plays or teaches.

The bedroom they share is comprised of mostly bed. The neighbors are still baffled at how Thor and Loki managed to cram the king sized mattress into the tiny apartment. Even they don't completely understand it, but they don't question it.

A smaller plasma screen rests at the foot of the bed, atop the two dressers that are filled respectively with Thor and Loki's clothes, and the required window has been covered by a black sheet that's been tacked to the wall—leaving the room in a constant state of darkness.

“We barely spend time in that room, unless we're sleeping or fucking, so why not keep it dark?” Was Loki's suggested logic. Thor didn't argue.

If one didn't know better, one would never suspect that the two creatures living here were anything other than human.

 

“How's breakfast?” Loki smiled; the sounds of his spoon mixing sugar, creamer and coffee together singing along with his voice.

“I'm still wondering why you're a piano teacher, and not a cook.” Thor answered around his mouthful of food, slumped lazily against the sofa as he flipped through the nearly endless channels that cable provided.

Loki allowed himself a private smile as he made his way out of the kitchen. However, he jerked and the expression was wiped from his face when a sharp pain radiated up from his foot. He lifted his heel off the floor to find a bloody print in it's wake.

He sighed quietly.


	2. Jesus/Jesus Christ

“What else do we need?” Thor sniffed, speaking around his mouthful of peanut M&Ms, rubbing his nose with the back of his knuckles.

Loki made a noise in the back of his throat, peering into the shopping cart full of food and basic necessities—like coffee filters, pads of paper and bundles of softgrip pencils. He checked the list in his hand after sweeping his eyes over all their accumulated spoils.

“You still need cereal, and--” but Thor jogged off before Loki could even finish his sentence, undoubtedly heading back to the breakfast isle. Loki rolled his eyes, heading towards the soft drinks, knowing Thor would catch up eventually.

It was only when Loki was heaving the twelve pack of Coca Cola's off of the shelf that he heard the tell-tale noise of a cereal box being thrown unceremoniously into the cart. Loki looked over his shoulder, quirking an eyebrow at the design on the box. “What is it with you and those damned Fruity Pebbles?”

“They're the best.” Thor replied, giving Loki all of his teeth in a broad smile.

Loki struggled to keep the smile off his face as he turned his attention away from Thor, grabbing the case of Coke Zero sitting on the bottom shelf. Loki had tried it once, and wasn't sure what to make of it; it was oddly appealing, in a bland way. He had been rather addicted, ever since. He shoved both twelve packs onto the bottom rack of the cart before turning to face his not-brother.

“Alright, let's go. I want to get home before the rain gets worse.”

Thor shrugged, popping another handful of candy into his mouth, trailing after Loki quietly.

 

“Your breath smells like peanuts.” Loki growled in mock-disgust, laying sprawled atop Thor.

The two demi-gods had made themselves comfortable after returning from the store and putting everything away, nearly an hour ago. They painted quite the picture; all limbs and tangled bodies, too big for the too-small couch.

A chuckle was Thor's only response as he moved his head to nose along Loki's bearded jaw, eyes half-lidded and filled with sleepy content.

“It's a good thing I happen to like peanuts.” Loki all but whispered as he pressed his nose against Thor's cheek, affectionately. Thor gave a rather languid smile as Loki pressed a feather-light kiss to the blonde's lips.

Thor raised a hand to gently run it back through Loki's now-ginger locks. The short hair flowed backwards in gorgeous waves and light curls that hadn't been present since Loki was rather young. Loki sighed, eyes fluttering shut at the calming touch, lips centimeters away from Thor's own.

The younger god hadn't been happy about dying his hair, when they first moved to London, but his face was far too unique and easily recognizable. The black hair only made it worse. Every news station known to man was quick to broadcast Loki's attack on New York as it was happening, and so it simply wasn't safe for him to walk around looking so much like himself.

However, in Thor's opinion, the cinnamon color went rather nicely with the jade of Loki's eyes.

“You know,” Loki started—voice soft and barely audible over the heavy storm outside. “the mortals say that 'God is in the rain'.”

Thor made a noise in the back of his throat; a questioning hum that goaded Loki to continue. Loki distanced his face from Thor's, propping himself up a bit more with his elbows anchored against Thor's chest. Thor's face contorted into an amused expression, watching Loki's lips as they spoke.

“There's a story, widely known, about a little girl who was born perilously premature. There was only a ten-percent chance that she would live through the night. Even if she did survive, the doctors expected her future would have been a very cruel one. The parents could hardly touch or kiss her, without causing her discomfort, so they simply prayed that God would stay close to their little girl.”

Thor's face soured into a frown at the rather sad tale. But Loki merely smiled, running his fingertips across Thor's lips soothingly; causing the expression to melt away.

“Four months later, they were _finally_ allowed to take her home--and when she was five, she and her family sat in the bleachers as her older brother's baseball team practiced. She was chattering away with her mother and several other adults; perfectly happy and normal in every way. Suddenly, she stopped and held her arms across her chest. ' _Do you smell that?_ ' she asked. There was a thunderstorm on the horizon. ' _Yes, it smells like rain_.' the mother replied. The girl shook her head and loudly announced, ' _No, it smells like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest_ '.”

Thor quirked an eyebrow, a dozen questions dancing on the tip of his tongue. But before the blonde could even open his mouth, Loki shifted to lay himself flush against Thor; head resting on the Thunderer's chest. Jade eyes drifted shut as Loki listened to the steady breathing, and Thor couldn't help the amused chuckle that slipped from him. “Is this _sentiment_ , brother?”

Loki shrugged off Thor's teasing, a small smile playing on his lips. Thor ran his fingers up and down Loki's arms, leaving ghosted trails in their wake; causing the hairs on Loki's arms to stand on-end. “I found it ironic. One of my younger students told it to me, the other day. It seems your mayflies have some validity to their tales—even if they don't know it.”

“You tease the mortals constantly for their unknowing, and for being so much farther below us, in so many ways. And yet I haven't seen you this happy in centuries.” Thor's expression twisted into a smirk as he pulled Loki further up his chest, bringing the two of them nose-to-nose once again.

Loki narrowed his eyes playfully, nudging Thor's nose with his own before planting a trail of kisses along the blonde's jawline. Thor had trimmed his beard to nearly nothing, along with cutting his hair short, when they first moved. At times, Loki misses the length, but the youthful look suits the golden god.

“Perhaps your mortals aren't as bad as I thought.” Loki muttered, pressing his lips to Thor's.

However, the sense of calm and intimacy was quickly shattered when the front door suddenly swung open, followed by a familiar voice, “Honeys, I'm home!”

“That arrogant, ignorant, self-obsessed, cocky, over-inflated, wretched--” Loki's venomous string of curses were cut off by Thor clamping a hand down over his mouth.

“Tony, I told you to knock!” Came Steve's horrified voice from somewhere over the billionaire’s shoulder.

Tony glanced over his shoulder and gave a casual shrug before strolling into the house, lazily looking over everything in the apartment that his eyes could see. Any other time, Loki would have been amused by Tony's blatant lack of shame, embarrassment or apology. Tony smirked, fueled by Loki's dwindling temper.

“You know, you should really lock your door. There's horrible people out there.”

Loki violently shoved Thor's hand away from his mouth, glaring daggers at Tony. “There's horrible people _in here_. Get out.”

“Hey, you two invited us!” Tony rebutted, making himself comfortable in the armchair adjacent to the couch. Steve remained by the front door, like a frightened deer.

“Yes,” Loki snarled, eyes following Tony in the ways a starving predator watches it's next meal. “We did. With the intent of picking you up from the _airport_. How did you even find our hou--”

“Jarvis.” Tony interrupted, already bored with Loki's chiding; his expression doing nothing to hide that fact.

Thor sighed, pressing his forehead against Loki's for a moment before willing himself to move out from under the lithe god, and up off the couch; sulking over to usher Steve into the apartment, knowing the super soldier would be too embarrassed to come in, otherwise.

 

After that, Loki lead Steve away on a tour of the apartment. It was short and wildly uneventful, but the two happily spent several minutes in the music room, talking about pieces that Loki had been working on in his spare time, as well as his best and worst students. Loki decided to make it a point to stay clear of Tony until his temper had subsided.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Thor filled Tony in on the success of his class at the gym, and how the strength of humans surprised him. “I had the class take turns hitting a tire with a sledgehammer, last week.”

Tony raised an eyebrow, looking rather affronted as he swirled the glass in his hand—having already made himself at home and helped himself to the bottles of liquor on top of the fridge. “Why the _hell_ , might I ask, did you have them hit a _tire_ with a _sledgehammer_?”

Thor gave a broad, closed-mouth smile as he scanned for something good to watch on tv. “It builds arm strength. It also taught them to shift their weight to their leading leg. I noticed most humans don't, when throwing a punch, so this was good practice; it's instinct to shift your weight when wielding a hammer.”

“Well, you would know, wouldn't you?” Came Tony's sardonic reply. Thor merely glanced over at the brunette, smile broadening and eyebrows wiggling.

Seconds later, Steve and Loki emerged from the music room; seating themselves on either side of Thor, with Steve sitting on the end of the couch closest to Tony. Loki flashed Thor a small smile when the blonde took ahold of his hand, asking if he was alright. Loki gave a nod of his head and a reassuring squeeze of Thor's hand.

Tony scrunched up his nose; either to the public display of affection, or to Loki's appearance—which he seemed to be analyzing every detail of. Right down to Loki's loose-fitting, grey v-neck that was riddled with holes and coffee stains, and the dark skinny jeans that were tattered and torn at the knees.

“You both look so different.” Tony mused, “You're even starting to sound more like Brits and less like ancient Norse gods. I don't think I'll ever get used to it . . . it's _weird_.”

“ _That's_ what you find weird?” Loki barked with a laugh, raising an eyebrow. “You walked in on us coddling on the couch, not thirty minutes before, and _that's_ what you find weird—our looks . . . I don't think I'll ever understand you Stark, but bless you.”

“That's another thing!” Tony leaned forward, pointing an accusing finger with a scowl. “You're so nice now! It's _creepy_.”

Steve rolled his eyes, looking over at the two Norse gods with a calm smile; face lighting up at the way Thor and Loki clung to each other, looking nothing short of peaceful. “Don't listen to him; I think you both look great. The new look suits you guys. And I happen to _like_ the niceness . . . it's a welcomed change.”

“Yes, well,” Loki's smile turned into a slight smirk, eyes darting over to Tony teasingly. “you're not the only one who thinks so, and I can't say I mind it, myself. Sorry, Stark . . . looks like you're stuck feeling ill at ease.”

 

There was no moment when Loki instantly became the photo negative of who he was; it was a slow change, and it was difficult at first. The entire first month was spent with Thor and Loki at each others throats. Every little thing Thor did warranted a snapping response or belittling reply from Loki; he always apologized afterward, but Thor was still left hurting.

The blonde tried to understand the difficulty Loki was facing with the sudden change. He knew trying to erase centuries of hurt and self-inflicted poison was no easy thing—and he was proud of Loki for even trying—and he understood that living on Midgard was harder for his younger brother.

Thor at least gained some experience, during his banishment, but Loki was prideful and unwilling to accept help. This resulted in accidents, which resulted in more arguments, which lead to Loki saying spiteful things he didn't mean. Thor tried to be understanding, but even the golden god only had so much patience in him.

He slept on the couch, after one particularly heated night of arguing. After that, Loki seemed to bite his tongue a bit more when he was frustrated.

 

“So,” Tony started, bringing them both back to the present, “anybody recognize you two yet?”

Loki chuckled, shaking his head, “Thankfully not. I look so different, I haven't been fretting too much, but I thought one of my more clever students was going to figure us out. It was over two months ago.”

Thor glanced at Loki as he spoke, nodding when the memory came to him. “Yeah, I remember that. I had cut my hair, just past my chin--” he paused, making a slicing motion at his neck with his hand. “--and I usually kept it tied up. The girl squinted at me and said ' _you look like that guy from New York, with the hammer_.' After that, I trimmed my beard and cut my hair to the length it is now. No one's said anything since.”

“You're lucky.” Steve replied, chin cradled in the palm of his hand.

“So what do you guys call each other when people are around?” Tony quirked a brow, taking a sip from his glass of Bourbon.

Loki flashed a smile that reminded Tony an awful lot of the way he looked before tossing the billionaire out the window like a rag doll. “He's Chris and I'm Tom.”

“Selvig helped us create all the paperwork. It's pretty impressive, actually,” Thor mused, scratching at the stubble just under his chin, “ _Tom_ was born here. In Westminster. He studied at Cambridge, and earned a double first—which is an honor that intelligent students receive, apparently. Selvig thought it was fitting. _Chris_ , however, was born in Melbourne, Australia. I studied at Heathmont college, and came out here for a small acting part that never really went anywhere . . . and that's when I met Tom.”

“How terribly romantic.” Tony droned, giving a playful roll of his eyes and earning a light smack on the arm from Steve. “No, but seriously . . . I'm happy for you two. It seems like things haven't been okay for a long, long time. So--” he raised his glass. “--you deserve it.”

“It hasn't been easy. But, enough of stories.” Loki clapped his hands together, rising to his feet in a way that was much too graceful to ever be human, Tony decided. “I'd say it's time for dinner.”

Thor nodded his head, following Loki to his feet. “I'll call in the pizza, if you'll put the kettle on.”

“Of course, darling.”

Tony looked at Steve, raising his eyebrows and making a show of giving the super soldier a surprised expression. “They'll put _the kettle on_.” Tony pressed his pinky to the corner of his mouth, making some posh noise in the back of his throat while Steve laughed, placing a hand over his face exasperatedly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The bit about the Fruity Pebbles is a quiet homage to coconut_and_metal.
> 
> So we get a bit more character development in this one, but things really start to kick off in the next chapter. Because, unfortunately I don't believe in the idea of them leaving Asgard and suddenly having some happily-ever-after ending. They're not a healthy couple, and they don't have a healthy relationship. Loki has his demons, and he's verbally abusive. It's going to take time for him to adjust to suddenly not being the villain.
> 
> Tony and Steve have taken to the idea fantastically, but I promise you the rest of The Avengers have not. But we'll get to that later.
> 
> Title comes from "Jesus/Jesus Christ" by Brand New. It's what I was listening to when I wrote this chapter. "If You Ever Come Back" is the spine of the plot, but chapters will be occasionally inspired by different songs. Next chapter will be centered around "Yesterday Is Here" by The Alter Boys, if you want to check it out beforehand and get some ideas in your pretty little heads.

**Author's Note:**

> Good golly, that first chapter was much longer than I originally intended. But there you go.
> 
> It was mostly just mapping out their lives, post story plot, but the details sort of ran away with me. English class has been pushing my limits and forcing me to do things I wouldn't normally do, so my creative chi has been building up quite a bit. This will be a nice release, along with Sheep in Wolf's Clothing. As much as I hate my English teacher, I'm somewhat glad for the things she's taught us; my writing style has improved. I think I'll go with someone a bit more composed, next semester, though.
> 
> Fun fact: I actually had an Ocicat named Kat Cat. My ex-fiance and I adopted her after a friend found her, as described in-story. She was a runt, and was barely old enough to eat solid food. She stayed a tiny little thing, too. Fully grown, she was barely bigger than my cousin's ten-month-old cat. People mistook her for a kitten, constantly.
> 
> She'll be five, in December (Christmas baby) but unfortunately my ex kept her, so I haven't seen her in over six months. I miss her, so it'll be a nice reprieve to write her into the story. But, I digress...
> 
> I hope you enjoy, Sam.


End file.
